Rizin 45: What time does Rizin 45 start? All you should know about final major MMA event of 2023

Rizin 45 is set to wrap up another year in MMA filled with excitement, memorable moments, and milestone events.

Like Pride had done in the past, Rizin has continued to host an annual New Year's Eve event at the famous Saitama Super Arena in Japan. This year's event will showcase some of the Japanese promotion's biggest stars as they look to continue gaining traction not just in Asia, but internationally as well.

Rizin 45 is scheduled to begin at 2pm JST / 9pm PST and is expected to conclude at approximately 9-10pm JST / 4-5am PT. The event will be available in English and can be purchased on TrillerTV (formerly Fite TV) for 19.99 USD.

The Japanese promotion has put together a jam packed card that features 17 fights in total, with two title fights set to headline the event.

There will be four prelim bouts followed by an opening ceremony, the next four bouts followed by a brief intermission, five additional bouts followed by another intermission, before ending the night with the remaining four bouts.

Fans will definitely want to keep an eye on the title fights as they could possibly set the stage for future co-promotion bouts. Reigning bantamweight champion Juan Archuleta will defend his title against Kai Asakura.

Archuleta is the only fighter to defeat reigning Bellator bantamweight champion Patchy Mix, and he may seize an opportunity to call out the PFL's newly acquired champion should he retain his title.

The main event will see Rizin crown their inaugural flyweight champion as Makoto Shinryu takes on former two-promotion bantamweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi. The bout is a rematch of their Bellator flyweight title fight this past July, which ended in a no-contest after only 25 seconds as Shinryu was unable to continue following an accidental eye poke.

It will be interesting to see what Rizin have in store for their annual New Year's Eve event and whether they have any surprise announcements planned for their 2024 lineup.